California Poll Shows Growing Support For Legalization

By
Jeremiah Vandermeer, Cannabis Culture
on July 28, 2010

CANNABIS CULTURE – A new poll of California voters shows 52% in support of Proposition 19, the November ballot initiative that would legalize and tax marijuana in the state. 36% of voters said they oppose the proposition; 12% were not sure.

In the latest poll, Public Policy Polling found 38% of California voters admit they’ve smoked marijuana. Interestingly, as pointed out by Stephen C. Webster at Raw Story, this means there are more pot consumers than opponents to Prop 19, and some supporters of the prop who don’t smoke. The Public Policy Poll blog points out that 38% is the number of admitted pot smokers, so the percentage is probably higher. 66% of them said they smoked strictly for recreational purposes, 33% medicinal, and 23% a mixture of both.

African-Americans were the strongest supporters of the legalization effort 68:32 in support, with whites trailing 53:37 in support. Recently, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a group with some serious sway in the black community, joined the chorus of groups supporting Proposition 19.

Democratic supporters outweighed Republics by 62% to 37%. 55% of independents said they would support the initiative.

Other recent polls show majority support for legalization across the United States. An Angus Reid poll from July 22 shows 52% of Americans in favor of the legalization of Marijuana. Nearly two thirds, 65%, think the War on Drugs has failed (download the PDF).

A majority of Saskatchewan residents support the legalization of marijuana,according to a new poll by...

Comments

14 Comments

Anonymous on
August 15, 2010 4:40 am

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M. Sebastian Patrick on
August 14, 2010 2:16 pm

Well said. THAT”s why I walk into the beer store in my area and see 200 varieties. That’s also why there is a HUGE market in my country for 100-150 oz. crap-low-quality Mexican Brickweed that is responsible for all that violence. SOME people want the yummy, strong high quality, others just want a buzz. True for any substance as we are all different-And yes hemp is AMAZING! You can make so many things from it. The illegalization of something with no drug effect further exposes the fallacy of Cannabis prohibition. I’d like for some of these opponents who say marijuana is a dangerous drug, plant some crack, crystal meth., or heroin in the ground + tell me how much grows back. Cannabis is merely a plant! Dangerous drugs are man-made phenomenon. Free the plants. People should not be in prison over flowers!

M.SebastianPatrick on
August 11, 2010 4:14 pm

No. You don’t. Marijuana may be a simple crop to procure in your eyes, but the daunting tasks of figuring out fertilizing and light regimens are too much for most consumers to handle. I’m in the U.S. btw- and there you CAN produce your own private distilled spirtits for personal consumption. The people I know who produce their own wine do so from grapes/fruits, and the brewers I know all create a product equal in quality to store-brand microbrews. And in less time than it takes to produce a cannabis crop. You see all these crafts require a certain knowledge base and dedication to prevail. Cannabis is NOT “easier” to produce than alcohol or tobacco. It may be easy for you or other dedicated cannaphiles, but you seem to take for granted the wait and work inherent in producing your canna crop. It seems you did not like the problems that arose when you tried to procure your own alcohol/tobacco. The hassles weren’t worth it to you. I know this might sound crazy to you but: Many canna consumers would not put up with the hassles involved growing weed. Not EVERYONE has a green thumb or even wants one: and many do not think smoking is worth the three-month wait..If you grow cannabis-look at the work, money and dedication you have poured into your craft: you have invested alot of yourself into it whether you realize it or not. I often talk with the tobacco farmers and brewers and vintners about our respective crafts; and I see only similarities. They do not speak of the poor quality and problems as you do-it is a labor of love for them-as is farming cannabis. Please remember consumers are not hobbyists, have no interest in laboring over or waiting for their smoke, and only care a little about quality: after all Budweiser IS the most popular beer. Stop looking at life as your own personal microcosm; and start seeing the bigger picture of a world where-gasp! people are all different, and understand even though cultivating quality cannabis may seem like child’s play to most users of this website- it is not very sought after by people who don’t like the idea of gardening or working toward their weekend recreation.

Anonymous on
August 8, 2010 12:19 am

Ok, I have done all three. I have grown tobacco, marijauna, and brewed my own beer & wine.

Tobacco – It tasted like crap. Kinda the same as growing marijauna, but the current market value of marijuana is way more than tobacco, hence it is just easier to by a pack of smokes. Also smokes are manufactured. You need to grow a lot, pick a lot, cure a lot, then you need to cut it properly, and roll it into a cigarette tube.

Alcohol – Well you cant distill alcohol its against the law, and its dangerous.
Ive brewed beer and wine, first with store bought Can/Juice, and the quality is not there. It costs about a third to make your own, but it actually is lots of work. I was surprised how much time to cleaning it takes. Wine was simpler actually than making beer. Also in US where beer is about half of what it is here, the financial incentives are not quite there.

Marijuana. Current market price $200 an Ounce in Vancouver? What would it be in Cali? Now I grew some plants outdoor, using dirt and I used dutch master hydro solution as my fertilizer. I got 3 ounces 10 grams = 94 grams =
so if you grew say four plants you could have a gram of weed a day. Dont really need more than that.

No lets put this into perspective. You need way more land to grow your own tobacco for a year supply than you do for marijauna. As for brewing beer, you are usually buying the product from a middle man (Crushed Grains, Grape Juice etc.) and then make it at home similar to baking a cake. You dont farm the ingriedients for a cake, you just bring them home. Now back to marijauna, which is the easiest thing to grow 4 plants @ ~91 grams each = ~365 grams or 1 gram a day = 3650 dollars if you pay 10 a gram. If the government taxes it, more people would grow it themselves at home, its not that difficult trust me. That is why I believe it will not be legalized. It is to simple for the common man to make from scratch at home. alcohol and tobacco on the other hand are much harder, if you are making them from scratch.

james on
August 5, 2010 11:18 am

I understand why some people that partake in the cannabis community do not want this prop to pass because of the likes of Phillip Morris will offer cannabis at a price that will be hard to ignore. but there will always be a niche for cannaseur’s just like there are small brewer’s i for one will always lean towards a more organic wholesome method and selection of cannabis. so dont freak out guys im sure phillip morris will be in for a suprise when it comes to competition because there will be alot of people that will want a quality product instead of a dumed down and tainted unfamiliar smoke. of course there will be those that will go for the “bang for buck” factor but it wont be many at least i would not think so.
but there is a bigger stake to claim. its hemp, hemp farmers can and will provide jobs and products can be made and hemp is very green i can sit here and talk about the many benefits from hemp but i am sure most of you can read about it and find out for yourself. but my point is that if your against prop 19 because your afraid your going to lose money or think that it should just be for the medical community then maybe you should research the many benefits of hemp and then ask yourself if your reasons are justified.
thank you jack. you can read “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” athttp://www.jackherer.com

Atlanta Toker on
August 3, 2010 8:02 am

Come on California…Its us against them for sure. You can keep millions of Amercians from ever going to jail just by voting YES…Do it and be proud you did. I know that Ill be proud of you…

MOTFA on
August 1, 2010 11:38 pm

If i lived in california, this would be one of those rare times where I would actually vote.

Usually the voting where i am from is the turd sandwich/giant douche debate and i just fuckin stay home because it’s not worth the bother.

I hope people do register to vote yes for this, especially the so called stoners. But that is why they are called stoners. They probably won’t even care or remember to vote.

And to all you growers and compassion clubs that vote no can go die a slow agonizing death because you are part of the problem.

Guerilla Geronimo on
July 31, 2010 11:41 pm

I d’ vote YES!!!

They CAN make laws and we CAN grow.

That’s the name of the game and it doesn t get more complicated than that.

To me it’s all the same if there is a law against growing weed or not since my plants thrive well inspite of discriminatory legislation against them.

Any proposed legislation that prevents less carefull ppl than me from going to jail I definatly will embrace.

( Eg. The 5 x 5 ft allowed growspace for EVERYONE… sure is an improvement to the situation as it is right now.)

Medical exemption is discriminatory BS from my point of view.

By law and under god we are all equall !

M.SebastianPatrick on
July 31, 2010 5:31 pm

You really don’t understand the laziness of the American public and our culture of convenience consumerism. I assure you that if marijuana were made available in a store which is but a ten-fifteen minute drive from a marijuana consumers’ home- over 90% of those marijuana consumers will take the ten-minute drive over the three-month plus wait and care required to produce cannabis flowers. I’d love for you to explain why all tobacco smokers and alcohol consumers who are free to grow their own tobacco plants and brew their own liquors of equal or higher quality than the market provides for a fraction of the price rarely do so? Think McFly. That tobacco or alcohol (or legal cannabis)probably won’t be ready for your friday night-but the store brand will. After all- you only need plant tobacco seeds and harvest the reward-months later-tobacco is a plant: cigarettes are made in a factory. I should know tobacco is quite a profitable crop in my region..

Anonymous on
July 30, 2010 4:08 am

Well that does sound fair, but Tobbaco is a manufactured product. It is made in a factory, hence you can tax the shit out of it. You can tax the sale of it, the profits made by tobacco companies, the workers, etc. Marijauna on the other hand is a plant that if legal, most people would grow in there back yard. you grow it, dry it and smoke it. That is why tobacco is legal and Marijauna is not. Same thing with Alchohol. Even now with medicinal marijauna, the government would rather you take an artificial pill, rather then the unadulterated natural form. Why, because when you manufacture something you can tax the shit out of it.

Anonymous on
July 29, 2010 8:51 pm

Dont Trust The Polls ; Trust That You Will Register To Vote and Vote YES ON PROP 19 On November 2nd To Actuall Make A Change Cali !!

fatigues on
July 29, 2010 5:57 pm

You may be wondering why this poll’s numbers differ from those which show the support for Proposition 19 in the mid-40s.

The explanation comes from the lack of any imposition of the concept of “likley voter” into the numbers. This poll does not measure the repondents skewed for age, race, income and past voting tendencies, i.e., likely voter.

Because likely voters tend to be white, and most epecially, tend to be older, — given that those who are more likely to be against legalization also tend to be older (all thihings being equal) this explains the 7% percentage gap fomr this poll and the last.

Prop 19 is in trouble right now. If I had to bet if it would pass? I ecpect the answer is “no”. But it’s not all over just yet.

M.SebastianPatrick on
July 29, 2010 5:09 pm

Those opposed should push for their own bill to illegalize tobacco use/sales. Because, obviously; if it makes sense to imprison Americans for smoking a plant that is potentially harmful to one’s health: we must incarcerate tobacco smokers. Many people claim their marijuana usage is medicinal-no one claims their tobacco smoking is medicinal. We debate if marijuana is helpful or harmful-we know tobacco use is deadly. If we are to continue the charade of arresting smokers of A plant- we must incarcerate and criminalize users of ALL harmful plants especially tobacco. If you do not believe in imprisoning the smokers and sellers of the deadly, addictive tobacco plant; you must stand to end the war against smokers of marijuana plants in America- because freedom is American: not putting every Americans life under a microscope- that’s fascism.